Core/Extra: tweak the inclusion of the Modernize.FunctionCalls.Dirname sniff

[jrfnl]

Follow up on #2137

As WP Core has now dropped support for PHP < 7.0, it can start using the dirname() $levels parameters. Think:

// PHP < 7.0.
$path = dirname( dirname( dirname( __DIR__ ) ) );

// PHP 7.0+.
$path = dirname( __DIR__, 3 );

The Modernize.FunctionCalls.Dirname sniff we include also includes a check (and fixer) for that, so we can now include that sniff completely in the Core ruleset.

For now, I'm proposing to silence the error code related to the PHP 7.0 modernization opportunity (again) for the Extra ruleset as not all plugins/themes will have dropped support for PHP < 7.0 yet.

To be on the safe side, I'm explicitly excluding the whole sniff from the ruleset used for WPCS itself as WPCS still has a PHP 5.4 minimum.

[GaryJones]

✅

Are there other sniffs where a minimum_supported_php_version attribute could be beneficial to configuring them?

[jrfnl]

Are there other sniffs where a minimum_supported_php_version attribute could be beneficial to configuring them?

Well, sort of.... but it's not that clear-cut...

PHPCS natively supports passing a php_version as a configuration option, but that's a single patch version option, like 70305 (= PHP 7.3.5), not a minimum/maximum option and the value cannot be changed using properties.

PHPCS natively has a few sniffs which look at that config variable and if it is not available, PHPCS presumes the PHP version on which the sniff is currently being run.

PHPCSExtra also has a few sniffs which look at that config variable, but if it is not available, PHPCSExtra will not presume the PHP version on which the sniff is currently being run, but err on the side of caution (as the option is too little known, so that would too easily lead to problems).

The Modernize.FunctionCalls.Dirname doesn't actually look at the php_version config variable (though maybe it should).
There are three other PHPCSExtra sniffs which do take the php_version config variable into account and will adapt their behaviour based on the found value if available.

The sniff documentation in PHPCSExtra details exactly which sniffs and what the behavioural difference is when the php_version is set (or not).

Does that help ?

[GaryJones]

Yes, thank you. I don't think I was aware of the php_version option.

[jrfnl]

@GaryJones Few people are, which is why I'm so careful about not drawing conclusions based on the absence of the setting for PHPCSExtra sniffs (and why I keep pointing to the option in the sniff docs for PHPCSExtra).

[jrfnl]

FYI: I've updated the Modernize/Dirname sniff in PHPCSExtra now to also respect the php_version, if available: PHPCSStandards/PHPCSExtra#261 (not yet released, but will be in the next version)